Photo Friday: Won’t Be Long Now

This is a close-up of a branch from our tulip poplar tree in the side yard. Planted before we arrived on the scene, its large leaves have fluttered and entertained in spring breezes, shaded us from the burning summer rays, and treated observers to some golden color in the autumn. A couple of years ago, a large split ran down the trunk, and the bark fell off revealing what my husband called “the ugliest bugs he’d ever seen.” After spraying some black paint over the raw wound (all we had at the time), the tree seems to be healing over, wrapping its bark closed like the sides of a coat against the bitter wind. And those ugly bugs.